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Message:: [QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 3365554, member: 44316"]The genealogy of the Julio-Claudian dynasty is complex. A good genealogical chart might be the best way to see the relationships, but the acquisition of this coin prompted me to focus on the descendants of Marc Antony and his wife Octavia. They were the direct ancestors of three emperors, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. [ATTACH=full]892360[/ATTACH]  Marc Antony and Octavia, struck summer-fall 39 BC, at Ephesus. 25-24 mm. Silver cistophorus. 12.12 grams.(From 7:00) M ANTONIVS IMP COS DESIC ITER ET TERTJugate busts of Marc Antony and Octavia. III VIR down left, P R C up right. Dionysos on cista mystica, interlaced snakes either side with heads upright. Antony was acclaimed the "New Dionysos" at Ephesus. [RPC I page 379.] The "second triumvirate" was an of alliance between Octavian, Marc Antony, and Lepidus, agreed to in 43 BC. Octavia, full sister of Octavian, married Marc Antony in 40 BC to help cement the alliance. The pact allotted future consulships years in advance, which explains how Antony could be designated consul for both the second and third times as the legend states. Octavia is not named, but Octavia was Antony's wife at the time the type was minted. Sear I 1513. Sear HCRI 263.  RPC I 2202. RPC notes 139 coins from 103 obverse dies which indicates a very large issue. If the dies were identified and distinguished correctly (which is very hard to do), the point estimate of the original number of dies is about 400 and a 95% confidence interval is about 270 to 600 dies. If the number of coins per die averages 20,000 (far from precise, but an educated guess) the original number of coins of this type would have been between 5 and 12 million.  Here is an attempt to understand the descendants of Antony and Octavia. --------------- Octavia was the full sister of Octavian (who became Augustus) She was the fourth wife of Marc Antony (d. 31 BC). He left Octavia for Cleopatra c. 35 BC and divorced Octavia in 32 BC.  Marc Antony and Octavia had daughters Antonia Major and Antonia Minor. Three emperors were their direct descendants (generations separated by “-“): Octavia - Antonia Major - Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus - NeroOctavia - Antonia Minor - ClaudiusOctavia - Antonia Minor - Germanicus - Caligula Next are more details, but only those details relevant to their direct descendants: Octavia & Marc Antony    - Antonia Major        - Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (married Agrippina Jr.)            - Nero Livia, wife of Augustus, had two sons, Tiberius and Nero Claudius Drusus, from her previous husband. Marc Antony & Octavia     - Antonia Minor (married Nero Claudius Drusus)        - Claudius & Germanicus (married Agrippina Sr.)             - Caligula & Agrippina Jr.  (Claudius was therefore Caligula’s uncle.) Augustus (had a daughter, Julia, from his second wife, prior to marrying Livia)    -  Julia (married Agrippa)        - Agrippina Sr. (married Germanicus)            - Caligula & Agrippina Jr. (married Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and had Nero before she married Claudius)                -  Nero ----------------------------------- Some coins have quite a story!  Show a coin that fits somewhere in this story.[/QUOTE]

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